What is a Plant Cell Wall?

For both plants and animals to grow, their cells must divide to produce more cells. In the process of cell
division, one cell becomes two. This process is different in plant and animal cells because plant cells
have cell wallsA wall surrounding plant cell that can provide structural support and protection to the
cell.. When you look at a plant root through a microscope, you will find that the root looks like a grid
(Figure 1A). Each square in the grid is one cell. When taking a closer look at the cell boundary, you can
see that a structure separates one cell from its neighbor cells. This is the cell wall. In addition to
separation, plant cell walls also provide physical support to the cells and protection from pathogens that
want to invade the cells. For plant cells to divide, a new cell wall must be built to create two cells from
one. The process of building a new cell wall to separate the dividing plant cell is called plant cytokinesisA
process of building a new cell wall to separate the dividing plant cell..

How Does the Cell Choose the Building Site?

In a building, you can draw marks on the ground and walls to show the workers where to build the new
wall. In a plant cell, a structure called the preprophase bandA structure made of microtubules and
microfilaments that can mark the cell division zone when the cells are about to divide. marks the
division zone when the cell is about to divide (Figure 2A). Structures called microtubulesOne kind of
protein polymers found in plant and animal cells that can provide structural support to the cell and also
function as a delivery track for transportation within the cell. and microfilaments make up the
preprophase band. Once the division zone is formed, the preprophase band disappears. But the cell still
“remembers” the location of the division zone, so that it can guide the workers in the cell to the site
where the new cell wall should be built.

Figure 2 - Plant cytokinesis is completed by building a new cell wall.

Figure 2 - Plant cytokinesis is completed by building a new cell wall.

(A) The preprophase band marks the division zone, so that the cell knows where to build the new wall.
(B) Vesicles carry cell wall building materials and the protein “workers” along tracks called microtubules
to the division zone. (C) Vesicles fuse together in the center of the division zone and form the cell plate,
which is the beginning of the cell wall. As materials are added, the cell plate expands toward the existing
wall. (D) When the new cell wall is completed, one big cell becomes two small cells.

What Are the Building Materials for the Cell Wall?

Building blocks are the major components of walls in some buildings, and concrete is the material that
sticks those blocks together. In plant cell walls, there are various building blocks, such as cellulose,
hemicellulose, and callose. For the concrete, the cells are thought to use a substance called pectinA type
of sugar polymer that can be found in cell walls and has sticky properties.. All three building blocks and
the concrete are made of different types of sugars. CelluloseA type of sugar chain that functions as the
major reinforcement for the cell wall. is the major reinforcement for the cell wall. Cellulose in the cell
wall is organized into strong beams called microfibrils. Cellulose microfibrils function as the backbone of
the cell wall (Figure 1C). Pectin, the concrete of the plant cell wall, is more flexible than cellulose, and it
allows the cell wall to extend. Hemicellulose branches connect the cellulose beams and are all
surrounded by bendable pectin strings, to form a strong network. A special building block called callose
is only used temporally in the new cell wall, to stabilize the construction site and to make sure the other
building blocks are laid down properly [1, 2]. In addition to these sugar-made blocks and concrete, the
cell wall also has many proteins scattering throughout. Some of these proteins are involved in helping
the cell wall change and grow. But many of the functions of these proteins are still unknown.